As the inspection wound down, Misha Haghani (center) advised a broker on her participation in the auction.

At the third of four inspections scheduled of a mixed-use townhouse in Greenwich Village yesterday, an estimated 25-30 parties roamed the premises of the five-story Romanesque building. Virtually all of the the prospective buyers gave me the impression of having serious interest.

After weeks of negotiations with more than two interested parties, the contract was signed on Wednesday, according to Misha Haghani of Paramount Realty USA, which conducted the auction of the units at 127 Madison Avenue. Continue reading →

Misha Haghani, a principal of Paramount Realty USA, told me in a telephone interview yesterday that the building’s sponsor has rejected since the auction “more than two” offers for the penthouse in the form of signed contracts that were accompanied by required certified funds of 10 percent of the offering price. Continue reading →

The winning bid of $2,047,500 (including buyer’s premium) was rejected today for the 2,255-sf penthouse at m127 following yesterday’s auction of six condos in the building, at 127 Madison Ave., according to Paramount Realty USA, which conducted the event.

With three bedrooms, two and a half baths and a 338-sf terrace, that unit alone alone was subject to the developer’s approval. The listed price was $3.4 million, and the discount amounts to 40 percent.

The five two-bedroom condos on the block were sold without a reserve, and the developer already has signed those contracts, Paramount said.

Bids minus the penthouse totaled $6,384,000, resulting in an average price of $1,276,800.

The sum of all the sold apartments represents a 28 percent discount from the previously listed total of $8.85 million for them.

If this is your first dip in the waters of my blog on the auction, you may want to have a look at my posts earlier today and also yesterday.

In the event you want to see the official press release from Paramount Realty USA on yesterday’s auction of six condos at the building called 127m, at 127 Madison Ave., I figured I’d make available the first nearly two and a half pages of the eight-page document issued by its public relations firm (the remainder being even more fluff).

But first, I’d like to point out that I’m always tempted to say an auction can be the best determinant of market value. Unfortunately, there are so many anomalies to such sales–e.g. auction fever, number of bidders, terms–that I have my doubts.

One example of a different sort of anomaly at the m127 auction was the winning bid for the first of the two units yet to be sold.

Although the otherwise identical sixth-floor condo went for $1.234 million (including buyer’s premium), the fifth-floor unit was hammered down for more money: $1.244 million. Then, the last apartment reverted to the pattern established by the three previously sold units on higher floors, which went for progressively lower prices; the winning bid was $1.229 million.